Catty heritage
by Poly
Summary: -UPDATE: CHAPTER 1- Something more happened during the neko-ken training than Genma intended. Years later, at Jusenkyo, the spring of drowned girl and the neko-ken meet, resulting in an unusual transformation.


Catty heritage   
  
Author: Poly   
  
Authors note:   
This is another crossover, at least there are elements used from another   
anime. I'm not saying which one. You can guess after reading this   
chapter.   
  
Disclaimer:   
All hail to the mighty Rumiko Takahashi. I'm not worthy!   
  
PART I   
Spirit   
  
There are many things unknown about the neko-ken. It's origin was   
forgotten in the mists of time. What was left was a distorted martial arts   
technique that would drive the trainee insane. Still, people sought to   
conquer its power, which always resulted in disaster and, oftentimes,   
death. Ultimately, the technique was banded and people forgot about it.   
However, the lure of power still attracted the occasional martial artist in   
search of an unbeatable technique. One such martial artist was one   
Genma Saotome. His goal was to make his son, Ranma, the best martial   
artist of his generation and an example of a man amongst man.  
  
Genma stumbled upon the technique quite by accident. He stole a training   
manual from a temple he and his son resided at while on their training   
journey. In many universes Genma tried to train Ranma in the neko-ken   
with disastrous results. In many Ranma had ailurophobia for life. In others   
he tried to master it. Sometimes he succeeded and sometimes he did not.  
  
In this universe, however, something else happened. A change so small   
that one would not notice it until pointed out. When Genma collected the   
cats he needed for the training, he caught a cat that was slightly different   
from the others. This cat had unusual ancestors. Ancestors that went back   
to the time demons roamed the earth freely. It was there that the true   
neko-ken had its origin. The neko-ken training was man's poor attempt at   
mimicking the powers and fighting abilities of cat demons, a fighting style   
that was never meant to be used by humans.  
  
The cat Genma had caught had a miner cat demon as an ancestor. Its   
blood was so diluted that one could not detect it without considerable   
effort on their part. Despite that, it could not deny its origin. When young   
Ranma was thrown into the pit of cats and suffered the clawing and biting   
of the horde of cats, something happened that was unexpected: Ranma   
received part of the true neko-ken. It was for this reason that the young   
boy did not turn into an unstoppable killing machine while having   
subconscious control. This alone allowed an old lady to calm Ranma down   
when the boy escaped from the pit in his feral state.  
  
Genma, who was unaware of this, saw the training as a total failure. He   
berated the boy about his fear of cats, calling him weak and blaming him   
for wasting his time. Many years passed after these events and Ranma   
would have lived his life, unknowing of the spiritual gift if it wasn't for one   
of his father's other training ideas.   
  
Jusenkyo.   
  
At this ancient training ground everything would change. Who could have   
known how Jusenkyo would react to the true neko-ken?   
  
* * *   
  
Ranma stared in shock at the giant panda that had emerged from the   
pool. The words of the guide barely registered in his mind. His thoughts   
were still trying to wrap themselves around the concept that his pop had   
turned into an animal. He was utterly unprepared for the panda leaping   
for an attack. A solid kick connected with his chest, which set him flying   
backwards. His arms flailed about in panic, knowing he would hit a pool   
when he landed. Time seemed to slow down and his thoughts were almost   
clinical. He ideally wondered what he would turn into. Something human?   
Or perhaps an animal as well? A twinge of fear shot through his spine. He   
could turn into a c-c-ca, ca-ca... one of those things.  
  
It still came as a shock when the cold water enveloped him. A tingle   
seemed to spread throughout his entire body. He could feel his body   
starting to morph. The relative calm that he had when flying through the   
air started to leave him. He was on the verge of a real panic attack when   
he felt a surge of power surround him. It was like a bright white light.   
Ranma marveled at the feeling that enveloped him before his world went   
white.   
  
* * *   
  
"What happened?" Genma asked the guide. What came out, though, was   
something in the line of "Growlf?" He tried to put his hand on his mouth in   
shock when he heard his voice, and panicked when he noticed the big   
furry paw.  
  
The guide tried to calm him down. His broken Japanese was barely   
adequate for the job. "Mister customer need calm down. We wait for other   
mister customer, yes?"  
  
"Growlf growlf?" Came Genma's reply. The guide seemed to understand   
the question despite the unintelligible sounds made from the panda.  
  
"Mister customer fell into pool of drowned girl. Very tragic story of girl   
who drowned 1500 years ago. Mister customer takes long time to surface,   
though. Better get long stick and drag mister customer out before drown."  
  
The guide ran off quickly to get the necessary equipment before there was   
a pool of drowned young martial artist.   
  
* * *   
  
Ranma floated in a bright white space. There was awareness, yet not like   
in the waking world. There seemed to be a battle waging nearby. Ranma   
could hear howls and hisses and the voice of a girl. Fear was flooding   
through his mind. In the past this fear would have driven him into the   
neko-ken, however, this escape was not available for him now.  
  
The mind is a curious thing. Ranma's subconscious, having determined   
that the neko-ken was somehow not available, sought other ways to   
escape the poignant fear. It retreated into itself until it found the escape it   
needed: it found the playful child Ranma was before he was tainted by the   
neko-ken and his father's teachings. Ranma's mind retreated into this   
distant state of being. The mental battle seemed to calm down and both   
Jusenkyo and the neko-ken merged, changing Ranma forever.   
  
* * *   
  
The guide huffed and puffed as he returned to the pool young mister   
customer had fallen into, carrying a large wooden pole with a hook at the   
end. Before he could reach the pool, however, the water of the pool   
seemed to erupt. The guide stopped his progress quickly, not wanting to   
be splashed by the accursed water. The Panda nearby looked somewhat   
relieved that his son seemed to have survived and escaped the pool. What   
he saw emerge did not appease him, though. The shape that had emerged   
had landed in front of them on all fours and in a stance that Genma found   
somewhat familiar.  
  
The guide was rather confused and cautious. Mister customer had been in   
the pool a long time, yes, but the pool had never produced a cursed   
customer like this before. Mister customer should have turned into a   
regular girl, but that was not what he was looking at. The person in front   
of him was a girl alright, and unarguably a very cute girl at that. Long   
Flaming red hair framed a heart-shaped face with two, large gray-blue   
eyes. Even though she wore a baggy gi you could see that she had a   
healthy figure and was quite developed. The two cat ears on top of her   
head were not normal, however. Neither was the tabby cat's tail swaying   
behind her. The guide could not understand how the pool could have   
caused that.  
  
The thoughts that went through Genma's head were entirely different. At   
first he wanted to berate his son for turning into a weak girl, but then he   
noticed the extra appendences. The panda's eyes went wide. Now he   
knew why the stance looked so familiar: the neko-ken! The panda looked   
around frantically before deciding that the best thing for him to do was to   
hightail it out of there until his son calmed down. With amazing speed for   
such a large animal, he ran off and left a confused and disorientated   
Ranma behind. The panda never noticed the bandanna-wearing boy he   
knocked off a cliff in his mad run.  
  
The Guide shrugged his shoulders. He would explain to young mister   
customer about the curse and let him explain it to the other mister   
customer, since it was not his job to run after them. He turned towards   
Ranma and waited until the girl had righted herself and faced him.   
  
"Mister customer follow while I explain curse, yes?"  
  
The redhead tilted her head to one side and then smiled brightly. "Ok."   
She said cheerfully.  
  
The guide blinked a couple of times in surprise. Usually new customers   
weren't this cheerful or bubbly after receiving their curse. He dismissed it   
for now and began the walk towards his hut. Once he had explained how   
the curses worked he could lead the young mister customer to the   
Amazon village. Perhaps one of the elders knew what had happened. With   
that out of the way, he began to walk off while motioning for the redhead   
to follow. Ranma just picked up her nearby pack and followed the guide,   
all the while looking around her as if it were the first time.   
  
* * *   
  
Genma rummaged through his pack in search of something to eat. He was   
glad to be back in his human form. It was good fortune he stumbled upon   
that hot spring and fell in. If that hadn't have happened, he might have   
never known hot water reversed the curse.  
  
He gathered what meager supplies he could dig up and started to eat a   
cold meal. He frowned. It might be in his best interest to look for a nearby   
village or something. Just to spend a couple of days recuperating, of   
course. He would look for his ungrateful son afterwards. Besides, it was   
good training for the boy to spend a couple of days in the wilderness.   
Satisfied with his reasoning he began eating again.   
  
* * *   
  
The guide dumped another kettle of hot water on the young mister   
customer. There was still no change. The guide just didn't understand it.   
There were no musk nearby when mister customer had fallen into the   
pool. That was the only way he could think of to get a curse to lock. Now   
he was certain about bringing the redhead to the Amazon elders. This was   
a curious case, indeed.  
  
"I'm sorry, mister customer. Not know why curse not reverse. Perhaps   
Amazon elders can help. We will go to village tomorrow, yes?"  
  
Ranma just nodded and yawned. She was getting tired and she didn't like   
getting wet, and was glad she wouldn't get those kettles of water dumped   
all over her again.  
She didn't really understand what the guide was talking about. She knew   
there was something different about her, but it didn't have her concerned.   
Why? She didn't know. It was just a feeling of duality: there was some   
part of her that was different. She shrugged it off. There were much more   
exciting things to do anyway, such as chasing after butterflies and playing   
amidst the trees. She was too sleepy for that now, though.  
  
"I'm sleepy." She said tiredly. "Can we talk about this tomorrow?"  
  
The guide just nodded and showed the girl a place she could sleep.   
  
* * *  
  
The next morning Ranma-chan was awakened by the early morning sun   
as it casted its rays through a small window of the hut. She yawned lazily   
and stretched. Her cat ears twitched as they took in the sounds of the   
early morning. With subtle grace, she stood up and went outside wearing   
nothing but a pair of boxers and a muscle shirt while soaking up the   
morning sun and noticing the morning dew glistening on the grass.   
Ranma-chan yawned again and looked around her curiously. Perhaps she   
could practice a kata or two? The guide wouldn't be awake to play with yet   
anyway. Walking a short distance to get some room, she started on her   
complicated dance. Movements flowed and intertwined with apparent   
grace. She engrossed herself into the motion with closed eyes and allowed   
her mind drift.  
  
When she finally winded down and opened her eyes, the sun had climbed   
the sky and nearly an hour had passed. She was slightly sweaty from her   
workout as well. Looking for a place to freshen up, she walked towards a   
barrel of clean rain water that was placed to the side of the guides hut.   
Placing her hands on the side of the barrel, she bent forwards and stared   
into the motionless water. Her reflection stared back. She cocked her head   
sideways and took her first good look at herself after the incident   
yesterday. The strange feeling of duality surfaced once more. She had the   
feeling there was something different, but couldn't comprehend the   
significance of it.  
  
Ranma-chan pulled down a lock of fiery red hair and looked at it intently   
and soon a memory was wrestling itself to the surface, a memory of red   
hair, only it darker than her own. There was a feeling of warmth and love   
accompanying it, so she struggled to remember more. There was a blurry   
image that emerged, that of a face not unlike her own. She tried to get a   
clearer picture and strained for several seconds towards that goal. All of a   
sudden it sprang into place and she whispered a single word.   
  
"Mother."  
  
There was a distant look in her eyes for several minutes. When she   
snapped out of it, she splashed herself with some of the rainwater in the   
barrel to freshen up. Afterwards, there was a new determination burning   
in her eyes. She had a mission now; one she intended to accomplish no   
matter what: finding her mother.  
  
Finishing her morning wash, she entered the hut again. The guide was still   
snoring in a corner on a cot. After making her way to her pack, she   
searched for something to wear. The gi she was wearing yesterday had   
seen better days and was more brown than white from all the dirt, so she   
needed something clean to wear. Digging into her pack further, she finally   
pulled out a red Chinese shirt and black kung fu pants. She smiled,   
knowing that those would do nicely.  
  
* * *  
  
Genma grunted and hefted his pack on his shoulders. There should be a   
trail nearby, he thought. If he followed that it should lead him to more   
populated areas and, more importantly, a lot of food. The guide had   
mentioned a village less than a days travel from here, though he couldn't   
remember where. The guide had been babbling about Amazon's and   
female warriors or something like that. As if he cared. No women could be   
good at the art, let alone be a warrior. Shifting his pack in a more   
comfortable position, he began walking again. He had only walked a   
couple of meters when he was suddenly doused with a splash of cold   
water from one of the trees where rainwater had gathered.  
  
Genma grumbled and adjusted the straps of his pack to suit his larger   
form.  
  
* * *  
  
END PART I  
  
Additional authors note:  
I'm not sure when the next chapter will be finished. It depends on how   
much time I have. I want to finish 'Just A plan" first before I throw myself   
at this fic. (jap is nearing it's completion, so don't worry.) In the next   
chapter Ranma-chan will start her journey in search of her mother. 


End file.
